The Daily Swarm

Guardian:

Last month the State Duma held a hearing on “Government Strategy in the Sphere of Spiritual and Ethical Education”, a piece of legislation aimed at curbing “dangerous teen trends”. There, without a clue in the world, social conservatives lumped “emos” together with skinheads, pushing for heavy regulation of emo websites and the banning of emo and goth fashion from schools and government buildings.

“The point of the bill is so that by 2020, Moscow will have someone to rule its government,” explained Alexander Grishunin, an adviser to bill sponsor Yevgeny Yuryev, apparently without irony. “This is the first step in the public discourse.”

Yuryev and his allies hope to pass the legislation before the end of the year.

Emo music emerged from Washington, DC in the mid-1980s, offering an “emotional” take on hardcore punk. The genre saw a rebirth in the late 1990s and 2000s, adopting elements of glam and goth culture, and integrating a stronger pop influence. Bands like My Chemical Romance and Dashboard Confessional hit Moscow record shops in 2003, and before long teens with dark lipstick and shoulder bags were lounging glumly at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre and Pushkin Square.

The new bill describes “emos” as 12–16 year-olds with black and pink clothing, studded belts, painted fingernails, ear and eyebrow piercings, and black hair with fringes that “cover half the face”. Emo culture’s “negative ideology” may encourage depression, social withdrawal and even suicide, the bill alleges – with young girls being particularly vulnerable.